Embroidered Battle: The Story Of The Bayeux Tapestry (8 photos)

History isn’t written only in ink. Sometimes it’s carved in stone. Sometimes it’s embroidered with thread.





The Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy houses just such a piece — 70 meters of embroidered canvas depicting one of the most famous pages in British history: the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, in the 11th century. After winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he became King of England. The Bayeux Tapestry was created shortly after the battle and tells the story from the perspective of the victors. Surprisingly, it was embroidered not in France, but in England.



Despite the name, this is not exactly a tapestry: the images are not woven into linen fabric, but embroidered with colored wool. The work consisted of several parts, which were then combined into a single narrative.





Edward the Confessor Sends Harold to Normandy

The story begins with King Edward the Confessor sending Harold, Earl of Wessex and a powerful English noble, to Normandy to swear allegiance to Duke William. After a brief hiccup, Harold meets William and agrees to accompany him on a campaign against Duke Conan II of Brittany. William and Harold are victorious, and Conan is captured. As a reward for his loyalty, William knights Harold and makes him swear an oath on holy relics. Although the tapestry does not specify the nature of the oath, other sources indicate that Harold promised William the throne after King Edward's death.



Harold's Coronation

A year later, King Edward dies, and the English nobility proclaims Harold as the new ruler. A comet passes through the sky, an ill omen.



A Flying Comet

William, believing himself betrayed, prepares for an invasion and orders the construction of a huge fleet. Soon the Normans cross the English Channel and begin to ravage the English lands. The armies of William and Harold meet at Hastings. The battle is depicted in gory detail: the English fight on foot, and the Normans on horseback. The bodies of the fallen litter the ground, severed limbs and heads fly under the blows of swords. In the end, Harold dies, and his army flees. The last part of the tapestry is lost. It probably depicted the coronation of William.



The Death of Harold

The tapestry is replete with the smallest details that have excited the imagination of historians for centuries. There are castles, churches, houses, ships, scenes of medieval feasts, coronations, falconry, and all kinds of armor, clothing and weapons.



A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Bishop Odo rallying Duke William's army during the Battle of Hastings in 1066

It was long believed that the tapestry was commissioned by William's wife, Matilda. However, modern research points to his half-brother, Bishop Odo, who became Earl of Kent after the conquest and ruled England in William's absence. Odo himself is prominently depicted in the tapestry, although in reality his role in the conquest was minor. This has led historians to believe that he may have commissioned the tapestry.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the tapestry was displayed in Bayeux Cathedral, built by Odo and dedicated in 1077. For seven centuries, it was kept in the cathedral treasury, and then moved around various cities in France until it ended up in the former seminary of Bayeux.



Street Art in Bayeux

While the Bayeux Tapestry is a unique artifact, it was not the only one of its kind in its time. Woven and embroidered chronicles of heroic deeds were popular with the English and Normans in the 10th and 11th centuries. In France and Italy, wall paintings imitating draperies have survived, and Norman chronicles from the 12th century mention other similar works. But only one has survived to this day. This is the Bayeux Tapestry, a priceless monument of medieval art and history.